Improvement in liquid-meters



'PATENTED JAN 24, 1871.

w. E. SNEDI'KBR.

LIQUID METER.

2 sums-snarl W' m. s s

110,111,268. PATENTED JAN. 24, 1871. Q

W. B. SNEDIKER.

LIQUID METER.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'N'x'bms s as int am partic ple WILLIAM E.'SNEDIKER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO JOSE F. DE.

' NAVARRO, OF SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 111,268, dated January 24, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN LIQUID-METERS,

The Schedule referred to ln these Letters Patent and making part, 6! the lame.

- To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. Sunnmnn, of the cit-y, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Liquid-Meters, of which the following is a in", clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 represents a central longitudinal sectional elevation of a meter constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional the line a w in fig. 1.

Figure 3, a plan ot'the bed-plate; and Figures! and 5, vertical transverse sections of the plan of the same through mcter, taken respectively through the lines y y and trol the stroke of the pistons, and the main object of my invention is to insure a full stroke for the pistons and accurate action of the same under both light and heavy streams, which result it has heretofore been difiicult or impossible to obtain in: meters of the description specified. To this end- The invention comprises a combination of the following elements, namelyza cylinder or pairof cylinders, lying in'the same axial line, a tube, operating as a piston-within said cylinders, a free or independent piston within the tube, and a valve, operated by the inferior piston, together with suitable passages for varying the courscof the liquid as regards its ac-,

tion on opposite ends of. the tubular piston and independent pistons therein. 3

In such arrangement or combination of parts, the interior piston, which controls the valve, is fed or supplied with liquid by the tubular piston that, in its turn, is controlled by the valve. 3 v 4 In the operation of these several devices, the interior pistonmoves alone for a certain distance, or until it brings up against the one head or end ,of the tube, when it continues to move in the .same direction in. common with the tube, or the latter-with it, until said interior piston'is relieved of further advancin'g pressure, when the outer piston or tube completes alone its stroke in said direction, during which the interior piston travels in a reverse direction, and, in due course, or toward the close of such stroke, the outer piston or tube along with it, for a repetition of the action already described with reference to the relative movements of the pistons as controlled the one by the other, and by the valve, as hreinbefore.mentioned.

Although applicable tdmeasnring liquids 'of various kinds, my improved meter is mainly designed for measuring water, and, for simplification, will here only be described in accordance with such use,

Referring to the accompanying draw1ng- A represents an outer water-case or dome, to which the. water to be measuredis admitted by an inlet, a.

. Submerged within this case are two cylinders or halt cylinders, B B, lying in the same axial line, and closed at their 'outer, but open at their inner ends, or the same may be connected, to form of the two a single cylinder. Said cylinder or cylinders are prefer-i ably arranged to. occupy a horizontal position, but this is not absolutely necessary.

0 is a bed, on which the cylinders B B are secured, and D the outer piston or tube, arranged to recipro cate within thcm,aud provided with closed ends 01' heads, 6 b.

1'] is the free or independent inner piston, disposed to reciprocate within the outer piston ortube D, and.

l the valve controlled by it, to regulate the motion of the outer piston or tube, which, in its turu controls the movement of the inner piston. This valve F is here shown as ofan. ordinary D-construction, but it may be of any other suitable form.

The bed-plate G is providedwith an exhaust-passage, c, in communication with an. outlet, 11, for the water, and is further providedwit-h passages, e c in communication by ports, ff, with the cylinders B B, at or. near their -outer ends, and which serve as inlet and outlet-passages for the water to, and from the backs or outer faces of the ends of the tube 1).

The cylinders 3B B'are, furthermore, provided-with an annular or surrounding exhaust-passage, g g, which is in communication, by passages h h in the bedplate, with the outlet (1, and connects with the cylindcrs B B, by'a series of ports i i.

Said cylinders B B have also inlets-ports, jj, are

- ranged between the ports ft f i', and which are in communication with the water-space of the dome These several ports i 'i, and j j are disposed at proper distances apartaround the cylinders, and are of the requisite area to insurea free passage of the water,

'even when only partially open, and it is desirable that the exhaust-ports i i exceed in number the inlet portsjj', to effect a free escape, so that therc'may be no. impediment to the free movement of the pistons.

The tube D has, likewise, made in or around and through it, a series of ports, k h, correspoudingin number and area to the exhaust-ports i t" over which and the inlet-ports j 3, they alternately lie, in or during the reciprocating movement of the tube.

The valve 11, which is operated by the piston E, is represented as passing through a slot, 1, in the outer piston D, and as being operated by the heads of the pistonE striking it; but it may be actuated by said I inner piston E in any other suitable manner.

4 An opening, m, is also shown as made through the top or opposite side of the tube D, to establish aba l- .ance, and to provide for the operation of the registering mechanism by the tube or piston, said registering mechanism being arranged over an opening, a, in the outer case. The registering mechanism may be of the ordinary, or any suitable kind. 7

- ter is entering by'the ports 3" and k to drive the piston 'E. in direction of the arrow 2:, the ports k being in communication with the ports 6, which connect with the exhaust. The tube D is then at rest atthe extremity of its right-hand stroke, and is held'there through the uncovered position of the passage 0 by the valve ls, which admits inlet water through the passage f, to press upon. the left-hand end of the tube, while the opposite end oft he tube is relieved of pressure by the communication of the port f and passage 0 with the exhaust-port or passage 0 under cover of the valve. 'Upon the piston E, however, arriving at the left-hand end or head I) of the tube, when it forces outward'the bumper G, the valve F has been shiitedby the piston E, so as to reversc'the ports and passages f f and e e relatively to the inlet and exhaust of the water to and from the outer fitces of the ends of the tube. This causes the tube Dto travel in common withthe piston E to the left till the movement of the tube over the ports j causes the inlet of water to be shuto'fi from entering through the ports 7:, and the ports k are open'to theinletports j, and the ports k to the exhaust-ports i, whichreverses the travel of the piston E, causing it to move to the right, while the tube '1) continues its I movement to the left, where it stops at the end of such stroke till the piston E, acting on the valve F, reverses the supply and egress of water to and from the cylinders B B, and the pistons again move in common to the right, and the piston D subsequently completes its stroke in that direction alone, while the piston moves to the left again by the reversed position of the 'ports'k k relatively to the ports i i, and

Thesliding-stops or bumpers G G serve to arrest.

first thepiston E, and, subsequently, the tube D, at V the'termination of their respective strokes.

What is here claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with the water case or dome 'A of the cylinders B, B, the reciprocating tube or outer pistorrD, the free or independent interior piston E, the valve F, and. the several ports or passages under control of said valve'and. outer piston or tube,

substantially as speciticd, and whereby the interior piston, which throws the valve to reverse the action of the outer piston, is, in its turn, reversed bythe action of the outer piston or tube, as herein set forth.

2. The arrangement of the ports I.- k in the 'recipro eating outer piston or tube D, relatively to the fixed portsi ifijj, and f f, whereby the inner piston E is. 

